How The Foxes Reached The FA Cup Final

City's players will walk out onto the hallowed Wembley Stadium turf once more next weekend to contest the final of the oldest cup competition in English football. 

A maiden FA Cup trophy is the prize on offer for the Foxes and, ahead of the match, LCFC.com looks back at how Brendan Rodgers' side have reached the showpiece event, defeating three Premier League sides along the way.

Stoke City 0 Leicester City 4
Saturday 9 January, 2021
bet365 Stadium
Third Round

Starting in the third round, Leicester were drawn to visit a traditionally daunting ground, but made light work of their first competitive visit to Stoke since November 2017. Full-back James Justin produced a moment of magic to open the scoring just after the half-hour mark, cutting inside from the left and curling a sublime strike into the top corner.

From there on in, it was a dominant City performance, though it took until the hour to find a second. Youri Tielemans was involved, threading a pass through for Marc Albrighton, who bent the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot, doubling the advantage and scoring for the first time in two years.

The third goal saw Belgium team-mates Dennis Praet and Timothy Castagne combine, with the latter finding Ayoze Pérez, who made no mistake in slotting the ball past Josef Bursik in the Stoke goal. Harvey Barnes got in on the act soon after, firing home a first-time effort after Justin's cross deflected into his path, concluding a safe passage into the fourth round.

Brentford 1 Leicester City 3
Sunday 24 January, 2021
Brentford Community Stadium
Fourth Round

The draw threw up a second trip to Brentford in as many years for Brendan Rodgers' men at this stage of the competition, at their new home of Brentford Community Stadium. Kelechi Iheanacho had scored the only goal of the game at Griffin Park last winter, but it was Mads Bech Sørensen's close-range finish which grabbed an early lead for the hosts just seven minutes into this contest.

The Sky Bet Championship side were proving to be a tough test but, crucially, Cengiz Ünder hit back immediately after half-time to level the tie and the Foxes were ahead just five minutes later, from the penalty spot, as Youri Tielemans calmly slotted the ball home from 12 yards after being taken down in the box.

James Maddison completed the second-half turnaround and rounded off the scoring with just under 20 minutes to play, capitalising on a loose ball in the six-yard box to see City safely through to the next round.

Leicester City 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 0
Wednesday 10 February, 2021
King Power Stadium
Fifth Round

Leicester faced Premier League opposition for the first time in this season's competition when the Seagulls made the midweek trip to King Power Stadium in February. Brendan Rodgers had made seven changes to the starting XI to try and keep the squad fresh, including a first-team debut for young full-back Vontae Daley Campbell.

A tight encounter followed and, with nothing to separate the two sides after 90 minutes, the tie looked destined to go the distance. Extra-time was the last eventuality Leicester were hoping for, coming just three days after a hard-fought point away at Wolverhampton Wanderers and three days ahead of Liverpool's visit to the East Midlands - a sign of the gruelling schedule in operation across the season.

So when City won a late set-piece, deep into stoppage time, they had one last chance to take the advantage. And that's exactly what they did. A short corner caught the visitors off guard and, with the backline not set up to defend it, Kelechi Iheanacho climbed highest to meet Youri Tielemans' cross and head his side into the last-eight in the most dramatic of fashion. 

Leicester City 3 Manchester United 1
Sunday 21 March, 2021
King Power Stadium
Quarter-Finals

The Foxes knew they would be taking on arguably their toughest test so far when Manchester United - 12-time winners of the FA Cup - arrived on Filbert Way. Leicester had the home advantage, but it was at this stage last season that the Foxes had exited, following a 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea.

Eager to go one better this time around, Leicester were on the front foot from the off and got their reward when Kelechi Iheanacho scored his second FA Cup goal of the campaign, capitalising on a defensive error from Fred to round Dean Henderson and hand City a priceless lead.

Despite dominating much of the half, the hosts were unable to find a second and United managed to draw level. Mason Greenwood fired home, applying the finish to Paul Pogba's cross after some good build-up play from United down the left.

It took City just seven second-half minutes to restore the lead and it was a goal all of Youri Tielemans' making. Striding forward from midfield, the Belgian took aim and arrowed the ball into the bottom corner, past the diving Henderson.

The third goal sealed the Foxes' place in the last four and again that man Iheanacho provided the finishing touch. Marc Albrighton's free-kick reached the back post, where the Nigeria international was waiting to tap in his seventh goal in four games with a little over 10 minutes remaining, setting up a meeting with Southampton.

Leicester City 1 Southampton 0
Sunday 18 April, 2021
Wembley Stadium
Semi-Finals

Leicester's first FA Cup Semi-Final appearance in 39 years was a typically tight and cagey affair, although Jamie Vardy had one early sighting of goal after Youri Tielemans set the former England international free in the box.

He couldn't find the target, lifting the ball over the crossbar, and nor could Wilfred Ndidi with a header that landed on the roof of the net, before another Tielemans corner caused problems for the Saints, who managed to avoid conceding a first-half goal.

The last-four contest, played in front of a small contingent of fans at Wembley Stadium, was settled by one moment of magic from in-form forward Kelechi Iheanacho.

With the scores locked at 0-0 heading into the second half, Ricardo Pereira played the ball down the line for Vardy, who cleverly let it run past Jan Bednarek before using his pace to get to the byline and pick out Iheanacho in the middle.

The Nigerian striker did the rest, making a sharp run to escape the attentions of Ryan Bertrand before prodding home at the second attempt. The roar from the small crowd was audible and the cheers in front of television screens across Leicester undoubtably loud, as the Foxes edged their way to the final.

There was a momentary scare when Ibrahima Diallo's half-volley cannoned off the stanchion behind the goal, though City were able to see out the remainder of the game and could have even doubled the advantage when James Maddison fired narrowly wide, however, it mattered little as Leicester sealed a Wembley return.

You can get final-ready with a 2020/21 Emirates FA Cup King Power shirt – complete with sleeve badges – all at 50 per cent off, as well as items from our official FA Cup range, online or in the Foxes Fanstore!